American author and award-winning journalist Dr. Paul L. Williams is being hauled into a Canadian court over allegations he made about al-Qaida terrorists at an Ontario university.

Williams is being sued by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, over his claims that Islamic terrorists stole 180 pounds of nuclear material from the school's nuclear reactor.

The suit stems from comments Williams made during an appearance on the nationally syndicated radio show "Coast to Coast AM," which also airs in several Canadian cities, and remarks made in his book, "Dunces of Doomsday."

Williams, who has a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree, "broke no American statute and his alleged violation of Canadian law took place not in Canada, but at his home in Pennsylvania," according to a press release from Tracy Hood, director of No Compromise News, which is chronicling Williams' case. The release outlined Williams' predicament

"The case is significant since it represents the first time an American journalist is being forced to submit to Canadian law.

"Williams has been stripped of his Constitutional rights and forced to deplete his financial savings to pay for his Canadian lawyers.

"'The matter would have gone away if I simply signed an apology,' Williams said, 'but what kind of journalist would I be if I apologized for telling the truth?'

"Williams visited McMaster University in May, 2006 to verify accounts by Janice Kephardt of the 9/11 Commission, journalists Bill Gertz and Scott Wheeler of The Washington Times, former federal prosecutor John Loftus, and others, that the liberal Canadian university had harbored leading al-Qaida operatives, including Adnan el-Shukrijumah, Jaber A. Elbaneh, Abderraouf Jdey, and Amer el-Maati.

"The same sources testified that when the al-Qaida operatives left McMaster, over 80 kilograms (180 pounds) of nuclear material was reported missing.

"During his visit to McMaster, Williams says that he discovered an over-abundance of professors from terror-sponsoring countries within the university’s department of engineering.

"In the Division of Earthquake Engineering, he says, 9 out of 10 faculty members were from the [Egyptian] Universities of Cairo and Alexandria. Similarly, Williams maintains the three McMaster officials who head the College of Engineering and supervise the work at the reactor all hailed from the University of Cairo.

"Jane Corbin of the BBC has reported that the engineering department at the University of Cairo remains under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Williams says that he and several of his associates, including a licensed private investigator, met with officials from the Ontario Provincial Police, who confirmed that McMaster has been under scrutiny for a long time; that many of the students have ties to radical Islam and terrorist organizations; and that Islamic members of the faculty have conducted clandestine meetings at an off-campus address in Hamilton . . .

"Supporting Williams’ contentions, Hamid Mir, the only journalist to interview Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9/11, has testified on tape that Anas el-Liby, a founder of al-Qaida, attended McMaster and managed, along with other al-Qaida operatives, to steal 80 kilos of nuclear material from the poorly guarded facilities at the school."

According to the press release, Peter Downward, the attorney representing the University, said: "We regard Mr. Williams' allegations about McMaster as being on a par with UFO reports and JFK conspiracy theories. The notion that because there are people on faculty from Egypt that McMaster is then a haven for terrorism is not only logically offensive, it smacks of racism.”

The press release continues: "However, the predominance of Muslims from terror-sponsoring countries at McMaster and the lack of security at the reactor has been verified by independent sources, including Sean Michaels of GlobalTV-CA.

Democratic senators and governors are trailing their Republican challengers in a number of states in prospective match-ups for the 2010 elections, Rasmussen Reports polls reveal.

Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is facing a tough re-election battle — he trails Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and the preferred candidate of the GOP, by 10 percentage points in a recent poll, 50 percent to 40 percent.

Another GOP hopeful, former University of Nevada-Las Vegas basketball star Danny Tarkanian, also leads Reid, 50 percent to 43 percent.

Other election battles that are shaping up as difficult for Democratic incumbents:

In Connecticut, Republican challenger Rob Simmons, a former congressman, leads Sen. Christopher Dodd, 49 percent to 39 percent, while 5 percent say they'd prefer another candidate and 6 percent are not sure, Rasmussen found. Dodd is essentially even with three other possible Republican candidates.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado trails former Republican Lieut. Gov. Jane Norton, an announced candidate, by a margin of 45 percent to 36 percent.

In California, three-term Sen. Barbara Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, 49 percent to 39 percent, and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore by a margin of 46 percent to 37 percent, but Rasmussen notes that "any incumbent who polls less than 50 percent is considered vulnerable."

Blocking Iran's importation of gasoline supplies has often been cited as a means to pressure the Islamic Republic into concessions on its nuclear development program.

But the tactic might not produce the desired results, according to a new analysis by Time magazine.

"The hype around blocking gas is hugely overdone," declared Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Iran and an associate fellow at Chatham House, a London think tank.

Iran has huge proven reserves of oil and natural gas. But it lacks the refining capacity to produce all the gasoline it consumes, and as a result must import about one-third of the gas it needs, about 120,000 barrels a day.

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would give the president the authority to impose sanctions on companies that export gas to Iran, forcing those companies "to choose between doing business in the U.S. or doing business with Iran — a no-brainer for most firms," Vivienne Walt writes in Time.

But Iran has been preparing for sanctions this year by importing more gas than it needs, and has now stockpiled about a four months' supply.

Also, state-owned oil companies in China and Malaysia have stepped up efforts to deliver gas to Iran, and it's not certain that these companies would bend to pressure to halt those deliveries.

Iran could cut its consumption by reducing its subsidies on gas, which keep the price of fuel at about 38 cents per gallon.

The Iranian government could also boost gas supplies by cracking down on smuggling — nearly 11 million gallons are smuggled out of Iran daily to neighboring countries and sold at higher prices.

"Tehran could use all these stopgap methods to buy time — which is all it really needs to do," Walt concludes.

"Chinese firms and, until recently, India's Reliance [Industries] have been working on massive upgrades of the country's refineries."

Dalton said: "If Iran can maintain its refinery upgrades, they'll be self-sufficient in gas by 2013."

Despite dire warnings from the Democrats that the American healthcare system is in crisis, the healthcare industry actually added 19,000 jobs in September.

That increase stood in stark contrast to the steep decline in all non-farm jobs last month — 263,000 workers were cut from payrolls.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction employment in the U.S. fell by 54,000 jobs in September, manufacturing lost 51,000 jobs, retail trade fell by 39,000, and even government employment was down 53,000.

The entire non-farm labor market has now shed 7.2 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007.

But the BLS disclosed: "Employment in healthcare continued to increase in September (19,000), with the largest gain occurring in ambulatory healthcare services (15,000). Healthcare has added 559,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession, although the average monthly job gain thus far in 2009 (22,000) is down from the average monthly gain during 2008 (30,000)."

NewsBusters.org, which reported on the labor statistics, observed: "How will the Obama-loving, healthcare-reform-pushing news media report this in the coming days as they continue to tell the country the stimulus is working AND one of the strongest industries in the country desperately needs fixing."

THAT Dennis Quaid, who played a Secret Service agent protecting the president in the 2008 movie "Vantage Point," gets a "promotion" in his film latest role: playing President Bill Clinton.

Quaid stars in "The Special Relationship," which traces British Prime Minister Tony Blair's dealings with Clinton and is now in production in England.

Quaid called the part "a tough role," according to ReelzChannel.com, but added: "Clinton's from Arkansas, I'm from Texas. I think I've got him."

THAT Rep. Joe Wilson, who drew heavy heat from Democrats after he shouted "you lie!" during President Obama's healthcare address, has become "the GOP's sharpest fundraising tool" and is campaigning on behalf of multiple congressional candidates, The Hill newspaper reports.

Wilson has raised nearly $2 million for his own campaign since his outburst, and his name "has been used to bring in millions more for a Republican Party intent on capitalizing on the well-demonstrated anger of many voters to take back control of Congress in 2010," according to The Hill.

Requests for appearances, the South Carolina legislator said, are coming from "committees, state committees, county committees, everybody."

THAT the Tax Collector in Palm Beach Country, Fla., has said her office will no longer hire smokers.

Job applicants will have to submit an affidavit that they are non-smokers, and anyone who has regularly used tobacco products in the previous year will be rejected.

Tax Collector Anne Gannon said in a statement: "There's not much to be said for smoking — it's a major cause of respiratory and circulatory disease, it contributes to increased insurance costs for us and the Palm Beach County taxpayers, it's unhealthy to be around, and expensive these days."

THAT "Good Morning America" news anchor Chris Cuomo might have been "red-faced" over a slip he made while discussing Sarah Palin's new book "Going Rogue: An American Life."